Savoring the Colorado Rockies — by sailboat

by Rachel Walker, Washington Post, Updated: August 23, 2019

Frisco's Lake Dillon, a reservoir in the Colorado Rockies, is a popular spot for high-altitude sailing.

Rachel Walker

When we arrived at the Frisco Marina on a bright June morning, my two sons stuffed with pancakes and eager for our sailing lesson, I was temporarily unnerved. The water on Lake Dillon, a high alpine reservoir (elevation 9,071 feet) in Frisco, Colo., was still. The surrounding peaks, many covered in snow, reflected on the lake’s surface — beautiful, but not promising for a day of wind-powered recreation.

Nevertheless, we headed out to the dock and met Thom Emrick, boat captain, instructor, owner of Windrider of the Rockies, and a lifelong sailor.

“About the wind …,” I ventured as he loaded us aboard and introduced himself to Henry, 9, and Silas, 7.

“These mountains make their own weather,” he said. “We’ll have wind. It can sometimes be unpredictable, but we’ll have it.”

Thus, the lesson began.

Rachel Walker

Thom Emrick, left, founder and owner of Windrider of the Rockies in Frisco, Colo., instructs Silas Walker (center) and his older brother, Henry, how to steer and rig a sailboat during a lesson on Lake Dillon.

Inquirer Morning Newsletter

Get the news you need to start your day

Inquirer Morning Newsletter

Aboard a 22-foot Santana heavy-weather boat — “ideal for the strong winds we do get up here!” — Emrick gave us a tour and explained “points of sail,” or how the boat interacts with the wind. Sailing requires knowing how to orient the boat relative to the wind; it is virtually impossible to sail directly into it. Emrick explained the different points in a way that the kids and I both grasped, and he also had a laminated diagram explaining the points, to which we referred throughout the lesson.

Before leaving the bay, Emrick let the boys explore the cabin, where windows were water-level and a cushioned berth invited some playtime. They studied Emrick’s charts and eyed a bucket — the morning’s bathroom, if we needed it.

Back on deck, Emrick explained how the rudder steered the boat and gave each kid a turn. After a few figure eights, we were ready for the open water.

We motored out of the marina and into the heart of Lake Dillon, where the wind indeed picked up. Emrick cut the engine and raised the mainsail (the jib was already up), and just like that we were sailing. In the mountains.

From the lake I spotted four “14ers,” peaks whose summit are at least 14,000 feet above sea level, of which Colorado has 54. There were many more mountains whose summits range from 10,000 to 13,000 feet. The view was stunning and the crisp mountain air invigorating.

I realized I had never before seen the mountains from such a vantage point. I was born and raised in Colorado and love to run, ski, and bike through these mountains. I’ve had many profound, exciting, and even harrowing adventures in the high country. But sailing — this was something different. I loved it.

It helps that Lake Dillon, created in the mid-1960s as a drinking water supply for Denver, 80 miles east on Interstate 70, is picturesque and large; it spans 3,300 acres and has 27 miles of shoreline. Jet Skis, speedboats, and water skiing are banned — motorized pontoon boats are allowed — so there were no choppy wakes to navigate.

This year, the marina was in the midst of excavating 85,000 cubic yards of dirt and lowering the lake bed’s level by about 13 feet, the first phase in a multimillion-dollar improvement project. Even with the construction and piles of dirt, my kids and I enjoyed exploring the shoreline and marveling at the bustling activity at the conclusion of our lesson.

Then we headed into Frisco to explore. Once a mining town, Frisco is close to better known places like Breckenridge and Keystone. For years, I thought it was little more than a bedroom community for those who worked at more posh and popular Colorado mountain destinations. I was wrong.

There are T-shirt shops and a roadside chain saw-carved wooden animal statue lot, but Frisco also has a mix of eclectic restaurants, a small park with an amphitheater where bands give free summer concerts on Thursday nights, and a fascinating historic museum.

The self-guided tour takes visitors through 11 buildings ranging from the town’s original jail to the mercantile to the schoolhouse, and more. Each building is restored to vintage accuracy and features intensive interpretation and audio to explain its significance in Frisco’s history.

Like other Colorado mountain towns, Frisco also boasts a robust trail network busy with hikers and mountain bikers, and nearby white-water rafting and kayaking. The new adventure park with downhill mountain bike trails and Frisbee golf (and Nordic skiing in the winter), was busy when we stopped by.

But my thoughts kept returning to the water and the equanimity I found on a sailboat on Lake Dillon. It wasn't just the scenery. It was the act of sailing itself, that stealthy centuries-old mode of transportation. Our lesson lasted but a few hours, and I didn't step off the boat a sailor. I did, however, emerge with a strong desire to become one.

Windrider of the Rockies offers lessons, sailboat rentals, tours, and small group or corporate team building.Owner Thom Emrick was raised in Colorado, but has sailed around the world. Lessons on the 22-foot Santana start at $245 for two hours; a two-hour rental for that same boat costs $130. The sailing season generally runs from about mid-June to early September. Information: windrider.us